AMG Bob Mizer's Athletic Model Guild: 1000 Model Directory Hardcover – September 30, 2016

In my day these magazines were called "cruise books." (Tell me about it "pops".) They were highly prized and hard to obtain, and were sometimes confiscated by police. The photos are nicely reproduced and the background stories of the models, such as Nick Adams, is very interesting. If they were lent out, the borrower was always admonished to return it without any pages stuck together.

This is an absolute must-have for any fan of vintage posing-pouch beefcake photography. Exceptionally high quality photos in two heavy volumes. Mine came today and I thought I would have to go get the car to carry it to the house because it was so heavy. It includes short biographies of at least most of the models, if not all (I haven't counted yet.) Also includes a DVD. Great product. I hope they put out more volumes of other photographer's work.

All that I expected and remembered from my youth. Wonderful collection.

If you appreciate vintage physique photography, you can buy this 2-volume set with complete confidence. I have never found another book that displays this genre with the degree of excellence that this edition provides. It is well worth your investment.

This, disappointingly, is not a recreation of Mizer's 1000 Model Directory with photos larger than the tiny thumbnail size of the original. It is a thorough review of Mizer's work, and I would not have been disappointed if it had been marketed as such. The photos are those chosen by the author along with the help of Dennis Bell, who must be praised for his work in making AMG a living, breathing, organization that will carry Mizer's name to new audiences, and give more to those of us who've collected his original works. By naming it the 1000 Model Directory, it created an expectation that we would actually have a useful tool to identify the models in the original directory to the photographs that we've collected. Not that this will not be useful for that task, but if you have a copy of that original directory and hoped to be able to match the work you have to those models, it won't quite do the job. Nevertheless, it is beautiful, and shows a real dedication to Mizer's work. It is also, for those who don't know Mizer's work, or that of other physique photographers laboring against the U.S. Postal Service to distribute their work, a very good place to start in finding what is meant by Vintage Physique Photography. You'll see the gorgeous men - along with the kitch and the way that photographs had to have some kind of classical reference, no matter how slender (or absurd) in order to get past the Postal Inspectors.

Beautifully designed books. The pictures are sumptuous. Much better than the AMG magazine itself. The text is also very interesting. Fascinating to read the bios of the various models. Really brings the era to life. Highly recommended.

Wow!! This compilation of Bob Mizer's work is incredible! I am so happy with this purchase and have spent hours pouring through these two volumes. I can highly recommend this to any man who is interested in the origins of physique modeling and the timeless contributions of Bob Mizer.

A well-curated collection of some of the best Mizer pictures. That said: there are no nudes, nor are there featured pics with symbols or their accompanying legends - which basically was what I was after. There were few stories to liven up the two thick books. From the cursory flipping I gave both volumes, I could not grasp the chosen arrangement/presentation (or do I just have a thick skull?). All in all: rather academic.Promptly re-sealed in plastic, to be given to some lucky grad student or gay nephew.